Slide fastener manufacture by a cutting and punching operation



R. FElTL. SLIDE FASTENER MANUFACTURE BY A CUTTING AND PUNCHING OPERATION Flled June 25, 1956 Jan. 13, 1959 ATTORNEY nited States sums ritsrnnnn, MANUFACTURE BY A CUT- TING AND runcrnne ornnATroN Rudoif Feitl, "Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Waldes Kohihoor, Inc., Long island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Appiication June 25, 1956, Serial No. 593,700 3 Claims. (Cl; 164--14) This invention relates to improvements in slide fastener manufacture, and more particularly to improved apparatus for producing individual slide fastener Or zipper chains having one or more element-free spaces along the length thereof from continuous fastener chain, of

the type generally as disclosed in my prior-application atent G fastener-chain cut-off means relative to the element-removing punch and die means for removing fastener elements from the'continuous chain as isnecessary to provide an element-free extension at one (usually the bottom) end and, optionally, an element-free needle gap near the other or top end of the individual fastener or zipper chains being produced, which arrangement not only affords a closer control of the length of said individual fastener or zipper lengths but also a simpler and more easily operated means for varying the lengths thereof, as compared to the prior apparatus.

Another object of the invention is the provision of apparatus of the stated character incorporating an assembly ofindividual fastener chain cut-oif means and a scale, which is so constructed and arranged as to enable the operator to set the apparatusto the production of any standard length of individual slide fastener or zipper chain which is desired in accurate and foolproof manner.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of improved apparatus for producing individual slide fastener or zipper chains having at least an element-free extension at one end thereof from continuous fastener chain, characterized in that the fastener, or zipper chain cut-off means is physically spaced from the element-removing punch means, is mounted for adjustment toward and away from said punch means thereby to be capable of cutting off fastener or zipper chains from the advancing end of the continuous chain to the various standard lengths desired, and is further combined with scale means for accurately measuring the spacing between the cut-off means and the punch means as insures great accuracy in the length of the individual chains being produced.

Yet another-object of the invention is the provision, in apparatus of the last stated character, of improved fastener chain cut-off means having a stationary lower knife and a movable upper knife and which is so constructed and arranged that the upper knife is actuable throughout its working stroke both synchronously with and responsively to actuation of the element-removing punch means, and moreover that said upper knife has a substantially uniform stroke for all settings of the cut-off means.

The above and other objects and features of advantage 2,6828% Fatented Jan. 13,

of the improved apparatus for producing individual lengths of slide fastener or zipper chains having element-free spaces orlength-portions in accordance with the invention will appear from the following detailed description there of, in which reference is had to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred physical embodiment of such apparatus, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly insection, of the improved apparatus of the invention, the view illustrating the element-removing punches of the punch means and the upper movable blade of the individual fastener chain cut-olf means in their raised or retracted positions to which they move at one end of each complete cycle of operation, and further showing the advanced end portion of the continuous chain as just modified by said means and prior to said advanced end being further advanced for the cycle of operation;

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig.1, which illustrates the constructional details of the punch and die means; and g Fig. 3 is a section taken along line3-3 of Fig. 1, illustrating the individual fastener chain cut-off means as herein proposed.

Referring to the drawings, such illustrate a fastener ele ment-removing punch and die set generally similar to that of my aforesaid application Serial No. 476,525, now Patent No. 2,837,112, patented June 10, 1958, and which comprises a base plate 10 mounting a block 11 which in turn supports a lowerslotted die 12 and an upper guide block 13, the latter serving to guide the element-removing punches 14, 15 carried by an upwardly disposed reciproca- "tory head or ram 116 as said punches are actuated by said ram on their working and return strokes. The punch 14 has substantial lengthwise dimension and, as explained in my prior application, it is adapted on its working stroke to cut through the coupling heads of a plurality of the interengaged fastener elements 17, 18 of a continuous fastener chain moving through the punch and die set then positionedbelow saidpunch, and the smaller punch 15 is similarly adapted to cut through the coupling heads of a smaller number, say two or three,.of the fastener elements disposed forwardly (to the left) of those being acted upon by the punch 14, thereby to effect their re moval also; Moreover, as is also, seen in Fig. 1, the smaller punch 15 operates on the small number of fast, ener elements which are spaced from those being acted on by the larger punch 14 a short distance corresponding to the length of chain occupied by two or'three of. the fastener elements. Thus, the punch 14 serves to form an element-free extension of appreciable length at one end of each length of fastener or zipper chain being produced, whereas the smaller punch 15 serves to form a shotlength element-free needle gap adjacent the other end of each individual chain or zipper being produced.

Preferably, the smaller punch 15 may be rendered inactive whereupon the aforesaid punch and die set functions to remove a plurality of fastener elements from a portion of the chain as forms an element-free extension at one end only of each individual fastener chain being produced. For this purpose, the upper end of the smaller punch 15, rather than being rigid with the recipro-catory ram 16, extends into a downwardly opening slot 19 formed in the lower end face of the ram, and said slot opens at its upper end into a horizontal cylindrical bore 20. A pin 21 is mounted for rotation in said bore and is axially slotted as at 22, with the slot being of suihcient width as to receive the upper end of the punch 15. Thus, when the pin 21 is turned to its angular position illustrated, it acts as a rigid link between the ram 16 and the punch 15, as results in said punch being rendered active, i. e; capable of performing its intended element-removal function. However,

by turning the pin 21 180, the punch is free to retract into the pin slot 22, which it does when its lower end engages on the rigid elements of the fastener chain disposed thereunder, whereupon it becomes inactive to cut away said elements. It will be understood that in the punch set illustrated, the larger punch 14 is always active since the pin 23 by which it is backed is devoid of a slot corresponding to the aforesaid slot 22 of the pin 21, with the result that the pin 23 constitutes a permanent rigid link between the ram and said punch 14.

Illustratively, the upper guide block 13 of the punch and die set also mounts the fastener-chain piloting means of the type disclosed and claimed in my prior application Serial No. 502,987, filed April 21, 1955, now Patent No. 2,846,006, patented August 5, 1958, and which functions to insure proper alignment of the fastener elements to be removed with the punches 14, as results in said punches, when partaking of their working strokes, removing-complete fastener elements rather than partially cutting through certain of the elements, particularlythe end element or elements of the groups being removed. Said piloting means include a locating pin assembly comprising the double pin 25, 25a having laterally offset arms 26, 26a cooperating with actuating means (not shown) and a chain-stretching pin (also not shown) located on the other or chain-supply side of the punch and die set. The lower ends of the locating pins 25, 25a terminate in points 27, 27a which are spaced apartfrom one another in the direction of chain length by an amount substantially equaling the spacing between any two of the fastener elements of the same stringer row thereof. Thus, upon each actuation of the punch, one or the other of the points 27, 27a will move into the space between two adjacent fastener elements of the same row, thus to determine a point of anchorage for one end of the length of chain extending beneath the punches 14, 15, from which the stretching pin may tension the chain and thereby properly arrange the fastener elements thereof with respect to the punches.

Whereas in apparatus according to my aforesaid application Serial No. 476,525, the individual fastener or zipper chain cut-off means is structurally combined with the element-removing punch and die set as described, it is a feature of the present invention that said cut-off means is physically spaced from the element-removing punch and die set, as is illustrated in Fig. 1. In such view, reference'numeral 30 designates a slide carriage mounted to slide on a scale bar 31 rigid with and extending horizontally to the left or advance side of the punch and die set and being securable in adjustable position therealong by a thumb screw 32 (Fig. 3). Illustratively, the aforesaid carriage 30 mounts on its upper face an angle bracket 33 of L-section, to the vertical flange 33a of which is affixed a transversely extending stationary cutting blade 34. As also seen in Fig. 3, a

companion or upper cutting blade 35 is affixed to the free forward end of a transversely disposed lever arm 36 whose other end is fulcrumed as at 37 to the aforesaid vertical flange 33a of the bracket. Thus, the upper blade is mounted for swinging movement in a vertical plane toward and away from the lower blade 34. Normally, however, said upper blade 35 is biased to its upper or raised position as by means of a spring 38 on a pin 39, which is reactive between the upper surface of the carriage 30 and the under edge of the lever arm 36.

The upper cutting blade 35 is positively actuated throughout its working stroke, i. e. toward the lower blade, responsively to swinging movement in lowering direction being imparted to an actuating arm 40 plvotally connected at its end remote from the aforesaid punch and die set as by means of a pivot pin 41 to an upright extension 42 ofthe scale bar 31. The other or free end of said arm 40 extends into close proximity with said punch and die set and, more particularly, it extends directly beneath an angular offset 43 carried by and depending from the reciprocatory ram 16. Normally, the lever arm 40 is maintained in a raised position against a limit stop 44 by a spring-pressed'plunger 45 acting against the under edge of said arm, the plunger loading spring being contained in a plunger cylinder 46 afiixed to the scale bar 31, preferably as shown.

By further reference to Fig. 3, it will be observed that, whereas the cutter-actuating arm 40 extends over the transversely disposed and swingably mounted upper cutter blade 35, it does not directly engage same. Rather, it engages an intermediate lever 48 disposed above the aforesaid pivoted lever arm 36 to which said cutter blade is affixed, which lever, like the arm 36, is also pivoted at its rear end to the vertical flange 33a of the carriagemounted bracket 33, so that its forward end extends transversely beneath said actuating arm 40. It will be seen also that the forward or nose end of said intermediate lever 48 bears on the upper edge of said lever arm 36 at a point along the length of the latter which is substantially spaced from its fulcrum point 37. Accordingly, it will be seen that the angular throw or stroke of the movable knife blade 35 is substantially increased as compared to its stroke if the free end of the intermediate lever 48 engaged on said lever arm 36 at a point close to its fulcrum 37.

To enable simple yet accurate setting of the cutting means with respect to the punch and die set, the frontside face of the scale bar 31 is graduated in inches as indicated at 50. Thus the scale setting indicates the distance in inches between the forward or left-side face of the carriage 30 and the left-side edge of the punch 14 of the aforesaid punch and die set. The inch markings of course correspond to the standardsizes of slide fastener or zipper chains being produced or likely to be produced according to the production schedule of a particular user of the apparatus.

As the angular throw of the cutter-blade actuating lever 40 is greater near its free end than towards its pivoted end, the stroke or angular swing of the upper cutting blade 35 will normally be greater for the shorter length of individual fastener or Zipper chains than for the longer lengths. Since it is desirable for uniformity of cutting action to maintain cutter throw uniform, regardless of the length of fastener chain being produced, the under edge of said cutter-actuating lever 40 is inclined upwardly towards its free end, with the result that the vertical spacing between said edge and the horizontal varies inversely with spacing of the cutter carriage 30 from the punch and die set. Thus, by the simple expedient of properly sloping the under edge of the actuating arm 40, the throw of the movable knife blade 35 of the cutting means can be maintained substantially uniform for all lengths of fastener chain being produced.

According to a further feature of the invention, the cutting-means carriage 30 mounts, preferably on its inner face, i. e. its face nearest the aforesaid punch and die set, an upright plate 52 provided with a slot 53 which opens through its front edge. As seen in Fig. 3, while the mouth of the slot 53 is large, the slot proper has narrow width which is only such as to correspond to the thickness of the fastener tape, as compared to the overall thickness of the fastener as measured by the distance between the upper and under faces of the fastener elements carried by a tape thereof. Thus, while the slot 53 will accommodate fastener tape devoid of fastener elements and permit said tape to be drawn longitudinally therethrough, it will not accommodate the fastenerstudded portion of the tape nor will it permit longitudinal movement of any such portion through the slot.

In addition to its being slotted as aforesaid, the upright plate 52 is also so precisely located that the distance between its side face nearest the aforesaid punch and die set and the transverse cutting line of the knives 34 and 35 is substantially equal to and preferably slightly punch agssspes less than "the width of the aforesaid element-removing 14. Accordingly the distance between the said side face of "the plate 52 and the left-side edge of the punch 14, regardless of the setting of the carriage 30, is "always equal to thefastenenstudded length of tape b'f'jtheiparticular fastener chain being produced.

In operation, the carriage 30 of the fatsener cut-off means is first adjhs'ted to 'thedesire'd length or zipper to be produced.-- Assuming that an-elemeht-free needle gap is to be formed near the upper end of each such individual fastener length, the element-removing punch is set in its active position in which it has been illustrated. A short length of continuous fastener chain from a suitable source thereof, such as a roll or spool (not shown) mounted to the right of the punch and die set, is drawn a short distance through the latter. The punch and die set is now given a first actuation, resulting in the removal of the fastener elements 17, 18 from portions of the chain corresponding to those designated a and b (Fig. 1). Thereupon the chain drawn from the roll thereof is advanced through the die set until the just-formed longer element-free portion of the tape (corresponding to the portion a) is abreast of the plate 52, whereupon said element-free tape portion is threaded through the slot 53 by pushing it rearwardly through the mouth thereof. Pull to the left is now applied to the extreme left or most advanced end of the chain. Such results in the first fastener element 17 or 18 to the right of the element-free portion of the chain which has been threaded through the aforesaid ,slot 53 abutting against the right face of the plate 52. Next, the chain-locating pins 25, 25a are lowered on to the chain, resulting in a point 27 or 27a thereof exercising locking and anchoring action on the continuous chain at a point adjacent the punch and die set.

If the ram 16 is pedal-operated, the operator now depresses the foot pedal of the apparatus. Such effects severing of the excess or starting end from the most advanced fastener length portion of the continuous chain, as well as the removal of the fastener elements from the length portions a and b of the chain so designated in Fig. 1. Of said portions, the portion a will provide the element-free needle gap adjacent the top edge of the first complete length of fastener or zipper chain to be produced, and portion b, which it will be understood is spaced from the end edge of the chain as results from the action of the cut-off blades 34, 35 the length of one complete fastener chain including its element-free extension, will provide the bottom element-free extension of the next following length of fastener or zipper chain to be produced. Upon release of the foot pedal, the punch and die and the cutting means of course retract, whereupon the aforesaid operations are repeated a number of times depending on the number of slide fasteners to be produced. With every repeat operation resulting in the production of a measured length of slide fastener or zipper chain of the required length, and being characterized by an element-free extension at one end of the chain (corresponding to the aforesaid element-free portion b formed by the punch 14) and a needle gap adjacent its other end (corresponding to the short'length element-free portion a formed by the punch 15), all as explained above. 0f course, should the needle gap not he desired, the punch 15 may be simply rendered inactive by turning the aforesaid pin 20 to the angular position such that the punch will retract into the slot 22 thereof when towering onto the chain, as results in the individual slide fastener or zipper chains being produced having only an elemenbfree extension at their bottom ends, as is provided by the always active punch 14,

The aforesaid physical separation of the individual fastener-chain cut-off means from the punch and die mechanism, with accompanying means for adjusting the position of said cutting means as required to produce varying lengths "of slide fastener chain, is a distinct "feet 'ture of advantage in that it provides for closer operatorhighlyeificient construction and eas'eof operation.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for producing individual slide fastener chains having at least an element-free extension at one end thereof from continuous fastener chain comprising, in combination, punch and die means including a reciprocatory punch member for removing a plurality of elements from a portion of the continuous chain having length corresponding to that of the element-free extension of the individual fastener chains, means for actuating said punch member, cutting means for cutting off lengths of the chain from the advancing end thereof, means for adjusting the spacing between said cutting means and said punch and die means in accordance with the length of individual slide fastener to be produced, said last means comprising a scale bar extending from the punch and die means in the direction of movement of the continuous chain through the latter, a carriage slidably mounted on said scale bar for adjustment therealong, said cutting means being mounted on said carriage and including a knife blade movable in a path which intersects that of the continuous chain, a pivoted lever overlying the cutting means in all positions of adjustment thereof and being operative to actuate said knife blade throughout its working stroke responsive to pivotal movement of said lever, and lever-engaging means operatively connected to said punch member for movement therewith for imparting pivotal movement to said lever responsively to actuation thereof.

2. Apparatus for producing individual slide fastener chains substantially as set forth in claim I, wherein said lever is pivoted at one end to the end of the scale bar remote from the punch and die means and extends over the carriage and cutting means thereon toward the punch and die means, the under edge of said lever being sloped upwardly in direction and amount as to maintain the working stroke of the knife blade substantially uniform regardless of carriage position on the scale bar.

3. Apparatus for producing individual slide fastener chains having at least an element-free portion at one end thereof from continuous chain comprising, in combination, punch and die means for removing the elements from a length portion of the chain corresponding to said element-free portion, means for actuating said punch and die means, and means for cutting off the advanced end of the chain synchronously with each operation of said punch and die means and along a line which is spaced from the forward edge of the punch component of said punch and die means a distance corresponding to the desired length of slide fastener chain including its elementfree extension at one end thereof, said last means comprising a scale bar affixed to said punch and die means and extending therefrom in the direction of advance movement of the continuous chain, a carriage slidahie on the scale bar, chain cut-off means carried by said carriage, and a plate mounted on said carriage and extending transversely of the direction of chain movement and having a slot through its front edge of depth as to accommodate only the tape component of the fastener chain, said plate being disposed intermediate the cut-off means and said punch and die means and in position such that its side face which is disposed towards the punch and die means is spaced from the cut-off means a distance substantially equaling the length of the element-free extension being formed on the individual fastener chain.

References Cited in the file of this patent 8 Fry et a1 July 25, 1916 Evans Nov. 21, 1916 St. Louis et a1. Dec. 14, 1937 Moeller' Aug. 16, 1938 McDaniel Oct. 7, 1952 Soave May 24, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1906 i 

